Tuesday, January 31, 2012

vlog :: How do I get more blog followers?

Hi everybody!

Chantilly and I are so excited to share our new collaboration project with you. This is the first in a series of vlogs where we will chat about...well, I'll just let you watch the video and Chantilly will tell you what we will be chatting about. We had a lot of fun filming and we hope you enjoy watching!

Like we said, if you have anything to add to this conversation we would love to hear it! Leave us a comment below.

Thanks for this vlog ladies! It was fun watching you act silly and most importantly, be yourselves. I appreciate the tips as a newbie blogger. SO scary. lol And lonely. I feel like I'm sitting in the middle of the Grand Canyon babbling to myself. :) I'll just stick with it though. I'm already enjoying going back myself and seeing snippets of good days. It definitely helps to put the crap moments we all have in perspective. Thanks again!

I found commenting, doing guest post and giveaways on other blogs works. My fave and easiest is just commenting because it's easy to find something you like in another blog, especially when they have a lot of posts. Also I just like discovering new blogs! For some weird reason I have a lot of fashion blogs that I follow just because I wish I dressed like that.

p.s. first time watching one of your vlogs, im a fan. Can't wait to see/watch more. :]

I love the blogging community and finding people out there that I have things in common with...even if I only have a handful of followers, but most of my followers are also awesome bloggers :)Thanks for the Vlog ladies, very entertaining! I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and hopefully someday will be as cool as you guys :D Blogging is my hobby/other job lol! And I love it.

Welp, I loved that vlog. And appreciated the tips. With my little blog I sometimes naturally want to find ways to expand my readership and today I'm taking away from this vlog that it's best for me to focus on my content. I want my blog to be worth other people's time!

Thanks so much for all the tips! I've been blogging off and on for years, but have just recently decided to keep it up, whether people read or not. Like you said, I'd love followers mostly for the interaction and feedback, but until that happens I'll just keep popping out regular posts :)

The idea of first starting to blog can be really daunting, and someone people (like me) start panicking about what to blog about. This video has been really helpful (and funny!). I'd love to see more tips about blogging from you two amazing bloggers :)

What a great video! I've blogged for a while now and not always had responses but this has made me feel much better about blogging even if it's just for myself! c:I also want to add that the two of you seem lovely and so easy to get along with! This video has definitely brightened up my day! xx

ack, every time you mention chantilly, i think you're talking about me, and i get really excited. lol!

i loved the video, ladies. i think one really important thing to mention are technical tips- keeping all your pictures the same pixel width, making sure your paragraphs aren't too long, proper grammar, punctuation, etc. (i know i blog in all lowercase, but that's a deliberate personal choice :) also, have an engaging design... even if you can't afford a professional designer, there are lots of free alternatives out there to be utilized.

seriously, unless the content is amazing, i can't get past it when i click through and see many of these things on a blog. we've all been there though :P but i think the more you blog, you gradually learn.

you both are to cute!! can't wait for the next vlog you do together. i loved this one. i think most including myself want to meet more people, talk more, find friends ... is the main reason why we wish for more friends or follwers. at this time in my life i would love to meet more people & talk about what i know & they too can share their knowledge. that sounds silly ... but having "girlfriends" makes us feel grounded. a part of the world & our surroundings. hope that makes sense. big hugs. (:

Hey ladies - thanks so much for doing this Vlog (I can't take that word seriously at all!) I've never visited Chantilly's blog before - but I definitely will be now!

This has got me thinking about having a go - I did a "podcraft" recently which went down really well with my readers and people have asked me to do more. Lots of people ask me to share more personal stuff - about my life etc so maybe a vlog could be a good way of doing this. It's so hard though finding the balance between sharing enough that is interesting but not giving your whole life away! How do you both achieve this balance?

ha i loved this! one of my wonderful friends i've met through blogging is american like you guys, and she said whenever she reads my posts she tries to read them in an british accent in her head which made me laugh...so a vlog is definitely on my list of things to do now. A bit scary, you're right, but i'll give it a go :-)ps your kitten is so cute <3

I started my blog the first of this year, so this was really helpful! The 2 ways I try to keep in touch with my readers (all... 18 of them? Haha) is I constantly am commenting on their blogs and responding to any of their comments on my posts, and I try to pose a question at the end of all of my posts rather than just ranting and expecting people to comment.This month I'm trying to add more word content rather than just photos. I just worry about how good/bad my writing is. I don't want to bore anyone to death!

Oh my goodness, when I started taking sponsors, reviews, etc as a for-profit blog about 4 months ago I have been spending a lot more time on blog work than before. It is a great way to make a little extra money and have opportunities that I would not have had before my blog. But I agree, it takes a lot of work and time. And also patience. Patience with myself while I figured out how I wanted my blog to be and stand out and patience that things don't happen overnight. I have honestly let a lot of things just fall into my lap. I could be much more involved and seek out the free stuff and strategies of getting more readers. But instead I like to focus my energy on creating the content and making my little internet home a place I love too. I think people prefer to read a blog that is genuine (like you guys!) and not trying too hard. Okay I am rambling now. Why don't I live in Canada?!?! I would totally love hanging out with you guys and blog-geeking out. And my boobs would win ;)

Seriously awesome! I loved the outtakes at the end...I'm sitting here chuckling right along with you! My prior vlogs were super funny because I was such a bumbler! If I am having a poopie day...I totally go check them out again....and laugh. You both inspired me to do a vlog...sometime this week...about what not to do when your trying to focus on your studies. :) Hearts, Janna Lynn

So I had a question that you two are quite qualified to answer. I've been thinking about starting to vlog, but I'm not sure to vlog about. What do you vlog about, and how do you prepare for it? Honestly, just some more information about vlogging would be wonderful.

Oh! Good idea for another topic :) Quickly though, I think it is easiest to do vlogs if you are answering questions asked by your readers or sharing fun facts about yourself. My first vlog was actually a DIY tutorial thing and that made me feel pretty comfortable as well. Let me know if you try a vlog!

You could take part in a meme. Usually it's a list of questions about yourself that you answer in video format. Not only does it provide you with automatic content but it allows your readers to learn things about you.

Ok, this was a great post and all (I am definitely in the "would like more readers category, just because I would love to surround myself with creative friends!!) but I just about died when that cat magically appeared on Chantilly's lap!

i always enjoy your vlogs and i'm a big fan of both yours and chantilly's blogs so it was great seeing the both of you! i started my little blog on the first of January and while I'm not looking to make money or be super popular (though both of those would be nice), i also don't know how to gain readership. i don't think i've had a single "real" person visit my blog yet. i'm HUGE with the spam bots though - so i have that going for me, haha! I think i just need to be patient! :)

omg this is really great, you two made me smile! hope not offended you Elycia but you reminded me to Penelope Garcia from criminal minds, she's my favorite character :)can't wait to watch more of this vlogs soon

Agreed-I love reading and watching vlogs to find a connection with other people. Often I find the people that I work with do no have the same interests as me. I like to be inspired or shown new thing by blogs and vlogs too. That doesn't mean it has to be life altering, just that it might direct me towards a new passion or interest, or deeper into something I already like.

Funny enough I usually don't watch videos more than 2 minutes long. Short attention span sucks. But I watched this the whole way through. You guys made me laugh so much. Especially the end haha. But honestly, you guys are very right about vlogs and the voices! Not that I have many followers, but it'd be nice to do a short video introducing myself so I'll definitely take some of these tips and tricks to heart!

Hi Elicia, I just wanted to tell you thanks for the videao and trying to share your experience on blogging. I discovered yours through Kaylah's (Dainty Squid) and although I definitely see why you two became good friends (:-), I really like both your styles and your personnalities. You two are some of the most creative blogs I read and I really enjoy discovering your worlds even if we live very very very far from each other :-)

Today it's been snowing in Switzerland but reading your posts makes me kind of feel like we're enjoying that cup of tea together :-) Thanks for your blog and sharing and please don't stop blogging!

Hey Elycia. What a cute vlog! So, so lovely and so helpful. I want to start vlogging soon - I just have to decide what I'm going to vlog about. I totally agree that quality content and consistency are the ways to get readers on a blog. Oh and twitter is the absolute best way of connecting with readers and other bloggers. Thanks so much for this cool post - very inspiring. Thanks to Chantilly too! xo

Although I loved the vlog, I even loved the take-outs more (can you even call them take-outs when they are practically still in :p). It reminded me of all the reasons why I would probably need 536 takes to get an 'undistracted vlog'. I talk to myself a lot and then go into daydream mode of saying random things that don't make sense :p

Thanks for the tips. I am excited to start designing my blog. Even if I don't get many readers I am excited to share this with my husband. I would love to do daily posts but I just don't have the time.

Is it terrible that all I'm taking away from this vlog is "just the boobs"? hehe! I guess that proves that I watched the entire thing, though, doesn't it? Also, if there's a kitten somewhere on a blog, I'll probably 'follow' it. I'm that easy.Seriously, though, it's all kinds of nifty to see both of you on the screen together (and Frank!). The tip about vlogging being a good way to engage with readers is an excellent point, but so far I've failed in trying to do so. Maybe I'll record my voice & post it instead? Or that might be kind of creepy.

Yay two of my face vloggers together! Just another thing that you may like to mention is that the more readers/followers you have, The more responsibility you feel to 'perform'. You need to think about what you will offer your readers, it's not just about racking up the numbers to boost your own ego. Personally I feel more pressure to enterrtain and give my readers value as my readership has grown. It takes a lot of work.

That is a valid concern but I would say don't worry about "performing". If you are having fun and blogging about things you love it will really shine through and i'm sure your readers will appreciate it. I can definitely understand what you are saying though :)

I love when you post vlogs but I was wondering if you'd considered doing transcripts of them? They'd be able to reach a wider audience that way (and less importantly, people could watch them when they can't have the sound up).

thank you so much for the tips, i've had my blog since the summer of 2010 and i've always been struggling to get 'readers' (haha)﻿ ever since, but these tips were really helpful! do you think having GFC has to do with getting readers? i have wordpress and i feel like the reason i don't have as many followers is cuz i only operate off email subscriptions and bloglovin'. any tips for me?

I *finally* got around to finishing this video, and I have a question. Do you have any tips for being natural in front of a camera while vlogging? I've wanted to do vlog makeup tutorials for a while now, but I'm always super awkward and cannot form a full sentence without saying "um" or "uh," so I just don't even bother posting them. It's really annoying, though, because I would love to do more vlogs.

My best advice is to not think about the fact that you are making it for your blog. Just start the camera and try to act as if you are chatting with someone you know. Also, ums and ahs are ok sometimes! Also...editing is a wonderful thing :) Don't be afraid to try, the more you practice filming yourself the more comfortable you will get.

I'm a new blogger as well. Thanks for all of the wonderful tips! I wish I could have seen them a little bit earlier. I liked the idea of making your blog private & building up your posts FIRST, then having readers look through your content. I'm stressing over how little content I have right now (obviously, I just started last week! xD) and trying to gain ideas for new posts FAST. It... isn't good. If only I knew. *sadface*

Your tips are so helpful! You guys are so amazing! My blog is thefloralpenguin.blogspot.com. Please check it out. I am thinking of doing portraits of some inspirational bloggers and you guys are some of the bloggers I'm considering.-Abby

Just popping back to see if you were able to think about possibly subtitling this video? I'd be more than happy to give some subtitling tips, it's definitely not really that complicated. It can be a bit time consuming at first but once you get used to the routine, it goes much faster! No pressure, but just wanted to offer my help and show that I'm definitely interested.